(born October 18, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former one-time GHC Tag Team Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and record eleven-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his time in Osaka Pro Wrestling, where he was part of the tag team with Daisuke Harada. Kotoge and Harada are former three-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions and have also worked together for various other promotions across Japan and for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania–based Chikara in the United States.
Professional wrestling career
Osaka Pro Wrestling (2005–2012) Kotoge made his debut for Osaka Pro Wrestling on April 29, 2005, at the promotion's sixth anniversary show, facing Kabuto Beetle in a losing effort. After a rocky first year, which saw Kotoge feuding with La Uchida, without much success, the summer of 2006 saw him starting a new feud with Daisuke Harada, during which he also began picking up victories and showing improvement in his in–ring work. In November 2006, Kotoge and Harada ended their feud and decided to partner up instead. After working as a tag team for over a year, Kotoge and Harada were finally granted a shot at the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship on January 5, 2008, but were unsuccessful in their attempt at dethroning the defending champions Bad Force (Gaina and Zero). Just a month later on February 11, the team came to an abrupt end, when Kotoge turned heel and joined the Bad Force stable, which, beside Gaina and Zero, also included Condor, Hideyoshi, Kazushi and Masamune. Meanwhile, Harada formed rival group Blood & Guts with Zeus and Tadasuke. The feud between Bad Force and Blood & Guts would last for the next three months, before Bad Force was dissolved, when Condor, Gaina and Zero jumped to splinter promotion Okinawa Pro Wrestling, after which Kotoge reunited with Harada by joining his stable. In June, Blood & Guts sent two teams into the 2008 Osaka Tag Festival, with Kotoge teaming with Tadasuke and Harada with Zeus. Both teams made it to the finals, where Harada and Zeus were victorious. Kotoge spent the rest of the year teaming with Harada and on November 15, the two unsuccessfully challenged Black Buffalo and Tigers Mask for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship.
In March 2009, Kotoge entered the Indie Junior Challenger Determination tournament, defeating tag team partner Daisuke Harada in his first round match. The finals of the tournament on April 4 was a three-way match between stablemates Kotoge, Harada and Tadasuke, with Harada once again being victorious. On June 6, 2009, Tadasuke, considered the lowest ranking member of Blood & Guts, turned on the stable and joined rival group LOV (Legion of Violence). The turn built to a Hair vs. Hair match on July 25, where Kotoge was defeated by Tadasuke. With Zeus out of Osaka Pro, Kotoge and Harada disbanded the Blood & Guts stable, renamed their tag team Momo no Seishun Tag and concentrated on chasing the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. On January 16, 2010, Kotoge and Harada defeated Orochi and Tadasuke to become the number one contenders to the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship and finally, on February 11, defeated Hideyoshi and Masamune to win the Tag Team Championship for the first time. On May 9, Kotoge and Harada teamed with Takoyakida to defeat Tokyo Gurentai (Fujita, Mazada and Nosawa Rongai) for the UWA World Trios Championship. They would hold the Trios Championship for a month, before losing it to Ebessan, Kanjyouro Matsuyama and Kuishinbo Kamen. On July 17, Momo no Seishun Tag lost the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship to Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki, representing rival promotion Dragon Gate.
On October 15, 2010, Kotoge and Harada made their debuts for Pro Wrestling Noah to take part in the 2010 Nippon TV Jr. Heavyweight Tag League. After one victory and three losses, Kotoge and Harada finished last in their block. Upon their return to Osaka Pro, Momo no Seishun Tag defeated Fujii and Mochizuki on October 31 to regain the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. Their second reign would last less than two months as they lost the title to Joker (Kuuga and Orochi) on November 28. On January 15, 2011, Kotoge and Harada returned to Noah to unsuccessfully challenge Atsushi Aoki and Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On March 6, Momo no Seishun Tag wrestled Joker representatives Orochi and Tadasuke to a draw in an Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship number one contenders' match and afterwards agreed to a three-way match for the title. The title match took place on March 19, when Orochi and Tadasuke defeated Momo no Seishun Tag and previous champions, Big Guns (Zeus and The Bodyguard) to become the new Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions. On April 21 Momo no Seishun Tag returned to Noah, where they defeated GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Kotaro Suzuki and Shane Haste in a tag team match. On July 18 Momo no Seishun Tag defeated the teams of Joker (Orochi and Tadasuke) and Takoyakida and Ultimate Spider Jr. in a three-way match to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship for the third time. Four days later Kotoge and Harada returned to Pro Wrestling Noah to take part in the 2011 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League. After two victories and two losses, Kotoge and Harada finished third in their block, missing the finals of the tournament. On October 30, Momo no Seishun Tag lost the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship to the Joker team of Hayata and Kuuga. On November 27, the members of Momo no Seishun Tag faced off in the first round of the 2011 Tenno-zan tournament, with Harada eliminating Kotoge and advancing to the second round, eventually going on to win the entire tournament. On December 18, Momo no Seishun Tag returned to Pro Wrestling Noah, where they teamed with Shane Haste to defeat Atsushi Aoki, Kotaro Suzuki and Taiji Ishimori in a six-man tag team match, afterwards challenging Aoki and Suzuki to a match for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On January 22, 2012, Momo no Seishun Tag failed to capture the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from Aoki and Suzuki. On April 7, Kotoge announced that he would be leaving Osaka Pro at the end of the month. Momo no Seishun Tag wrestled their final match together on April 21, when they battled Hideyoshi and Masamune to a thirty-minute draw. On April 29, Kotoge, Daisuke Harada and Tadasuke defeated Billyken Kid, Black Buffalo and Tigers Mask in Kotoge's final Osaka Pro match. Following the match, Kotoge announced Pro Wrestling Noah as his new home promotion.
Chikara (2010–2011) In April 2010, Kotoge along with Harada and their former Blood & Guts partner Tadasuke traveled to the United States to represent Osaka Pro in Chikara's 2010 King of Trios tournament. In their first round match in the tournament on April 23, Team Osaka Pro defeated The UnStable (Colin Delaney, Stigma and Vin Gerard). While Kotoge and Harada worked the tour as faces, Tadasuke worked as a heel, and in the following day's quarterfinal match, used his heel antics to eliminate the reigning King of Trios, F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor, Gran Akuma and Icarus), from the tournament by pinning Taylor, while holding his tights, thus sending Team Osaka Pro to the semifinals of the tournament. On April 25, Team Osaka Pro was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by The Colony (Fire Ant, Green Ant and Soldier Ant). Despite failing to win the tournament, Team Osaka Pro's strong showing had made them instant crowd favorites in Chikara.
On March 1, 2011, Chikara announced that Kotoge and Harada would be returning to the promotion for the 2011 King of Trios, this time teaming with the reigning Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Champion Ultimate Spider Jr. On April 15, Team Osaka Pro defeated the Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield, Matt Classic and Sugar Dunkerton) in their first round match. However, the following day, Team Osaka Pro was eliminated from the tournament by F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor, Icarus and Johnny Gargano), when Taylor pinned Spider Jr., while grabbing a hold of his tights, much like how Tadasuke had pinned him in the tournament the previous year. On April 17, the final day of the tournament, Kotoge and Harada entered a ten tag team gauntlet match. They entered the match as the eighth team, facing the Roughnecks (Brodie Lee and Grizzly Redwood), whom they eliminated when Kotoge pinned Redwood. After Kotoge also scored the pinfall, which eliminated team number nine, 3.0 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews), he and Harada faced off with representatives from rival promotion Dragon Gate, Kagetora and Super Shisa. In the end, Kotoge was able to score his third pinfall of the day, winning the match for Momo no Seishun Tag, while also earning the team their third point, which guaranteed them a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas, which was at the time held by Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush. On August 25, Chikara announced that Momo no Seishun Tag would return to cash their points on October 7, challenging brand new Campeones de Parejas, F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano), in a rubber match. On October 7 in Burlington, North Carolina, Momo no Seishun Tag failed to capture the Campeonatos de Parejas as they were defeated by Taylor and Gargano two falls to one, following interference from Icarus. The following day, Kotoge and Harada were defeated by Fire Ant and Soldier Ant at a show in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Pro Wrestling Noah Junior heavyweight (2012–2016)